King Chicken in Arco

Almost a whole year had passed since Fluffy had been re-assimilated into French peasant life. He had left in his wake a vacuum that could only be filled by his eventual return. However due to the fine culinary persuasions of his sister and a recent love interest our chances of seeing him again in Italian high society had waned considerably. Fortunately my birthday carried enough weight to overcome these comforting attractions and provided the necessary leverage for a fleeting visit. With him would be Thierry the Inquisitive, the king chicken who had already cooked me last year in Fontainebleau.

Ryan Air agreed to offer them passage, delivering them late to Bergamo airport. It was here I met them, and, after cordial greetings we left directly for a hot and sticky Arco at the head of Lake Garda. The forecast was looking unsure, but we played our dice and thanking Thor, we were to be blessed with good weather.

None of us had spent much time in Arco, so the first morning found us sitting in the cafe in the centre of Arco for a cappucino, brioche and to studying the guide book; this was to set the routine for the following days. Once our stomachs were satisfied we agreed on Nago, one of the jewels in Arco's repertoire of exceedingly good crags.

The drive up the steep road to the crag took us past many panting sweaty mountain bikers for which the area is also famed, but today we didn't envy them, it was humid, as it was to be for the 4 days. The crag faces the sun, but is pleasantly sheltered by trees at its foot, a cooling breeze can also be felt due to the effect of the lake which is close by. Here you find accessible sports climbing at all grades, we climbed the whole day on routes from 6a to 6c in the sector D area.

A note here about the guide book which is well put together in all ways apart from the way it's put together. It is bound by a useless metal spiral binder from which the pages are constantly trying to escape.

We were staying at the Zoo campsite in Arco, a nice site with a pool. Perhaps a bit pricey and busy in the summer but nice. The first thing you will notice about Arco is that the Italians seem outnumbered by brightly coloured Germans with immaculate bikes. We ate pizza that evening amongst their numbers.

The next day we couldn't resist the call of Syphosis, a crag to the north of Arco just after Pietramurata. We had embarrassingly been unable to find it this time last year, must have been the Italian effect, but this time we found it and we were soon up against stiff opposition. The first route, Solero a short 6a+ was hard, more like 6b+. It's annoying when the day starts with a rude awakening like this. The next 6b thankfully proved easier sport and all the routes were of a high quality, back on track for a 7a. Julien kind of ground to a halt on a 6b+ even with Thierry's helpful advice, I sympathised but thats climbing, and I had already psyched myself up to try Magnum the 7a. The start was technical and without rests but eased slightly to a ledge and the start of an undercut slab. I was pleased, I had been climbing right on my limit, distanced from thought of falling I really wanted to do it on-sight. But here my hopes vanished, the slab above was blank and even though I was no longer tired I was unable to do the next move. I don't know if I was more angry or disappointed as I finally dogged to the top.

We were joined at this point by the Milan crew, Claudia heading the advance party followed by the Pash and friends the next day. The group was multi-sport orientated: sailing, climbing, walking and mountain biking. Arco is great for this reason. I didn't do much today, choosing instead to go alone for a gentle walk amongst the trees, but Claudia went for the big 7a, and tricked the French into trying it top rope. I had my birthday party this night, enjoying for once a plate of pasta which had been hard to come by in Arco.

The final day we were again alone as the equip francais had a plane waiting for them. We chose the Belvedere just before Nago for its ease of access and... well because we hadn't been before. It was to turn out to be a frustrating day, defeated by lowly 6a's we settled for an early lunch, before retiring to the lake side in Riva to enjoy a cooling breeze and hardy sun worshipers.